The disclosure relates to a sample smear apparatus and a sample smear method.
A sample smear apparatus includes, as main constituent components: various processors such as a slide feeder which feeds a slide glass, a smear unit which smears a sample on the slide glass, a drier which dries the sample on the slide glass, and a printer which makes print on the slide glass; and a transporter which transports the slide glass. The slide glass is a plate having a thickness of about 1 mm, and processing of smearing and printing on the slide glass requires precise positioning.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-345229 (Patent Literature 1), a smear unit positions a slide glass in a vertical direction by lifting a support member that supports the slide glass from the lower surface side and bringing the upper surface of the slide glass into contact with a fixed plate for positioning.
As described above, in the conventional sample smear apparatus, each of the slider feeder and the processors is equipped with a mechanism for moving the slide glass up and down, such as a slide glass elevator mechanism provided in the smear unit. Therefore, the structures of the slide feeder and the processors are complicated.